Conventional snow blade mounts for four wheel drive vehicles such as pick-up trucks can weigh several hundred pounds, and generally include a chassis frame that can be permanently fixed to the vehicle chassis, usually behind the vehicle front bumper. A lift frame is then removably coupled to the chassis frame, and the snow blade is then coupled to the front end of the assembly via an A-frame and trip frame assembly. The A-frame with the snow blade attached is typically removable from the vehicle. Conventionally, the lift frame has been permanently mounted to the chassis frame (and therefore not readily removable from the vehicle), and the hydraulic pump used to operate the snow blade was located under the vehicle hood, and were driven using a belt drive driven by the vehicle engine. However, safety considerations now often dictate that the lift frame be removed when the plow is not in use.
One drawback of conventional snow blade mounts is the difficulty in readily attaching and removing the lift frame assemblies from the vehicle chassis, especially in view of their weight. To that end, U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,174 discloses a removable snowplow including a removable lift frame and A-frame combination. However, the lift frame assembly is permanently mounted to the A-frame, thus requiring removal of both simultaneously, as a unit. U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,530 is of a similar vein.
Conventional mounting systems utilize a pin arrangement, whereby the vehicle and mount assembly must be properly aligned prior to coupling the mount to the chassis with a pair of pins. This mounting and dismounting is difficult and tedious.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a snow blade mount and lift assembly for a vehicle that is easily attachable and removable from the vehicle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a snow blade hitch mount that includes a jack for lifting the assembly for proper vertical alignment with the vehicle chassis mount receiving unit.